I wanted to start a journal simply because I'm the type of person who is motivated by accountability (even if it's all perceived
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
A Little Bit of Background
redacted I wasn't raised to be frugal but always leaned towards that sort of lifestyle until I graduated college. I've held a job without a large gap in employment since I was 15 years old and really valued independence with my money and especially time. Scholarships covered most of my undergraduate education and my parents helped with books and a few summer courses (which I'm very thankful for). I ended up coming out of school with student loan debt of about $5000 and only about $2000 to my name due to a mass internship layoff during my senior year. Local industries went through a period of layoffs and hiring freezes during 2010-2011 (I graduated in Dec. 2010) so I struggled to find employment for a few months. I also applied to a dozen or so Math graduate programs and only got accepted in to backups in cold places (not my cup of tea). Finally, in March 2011 I took the first concrete job offer than came through the door for a redacted. I've stayed in the industry but hopped jobs a few times which brings me to where I am now. Frugality went out the window quite a bit but I've made some fortunate asset acquisitions and maintained a 40-45% (rough estimate) avg savings rate. I bought a vehicle in 2012 for $17000 which I mildly regret but I quickly rid myself of all debt aside from a mortgage which I also picked up in 2012.
Current Situation
Job: Engineer
redacted
Studies: Pursuing MSOR -- 4 courses + most of thesis left
Free Time: Not nearly enough
Assets
Townhouse: $130,000 (avg. sell in my neighborhood in last 6 months, zestimate is higher)
Vehicle: $9000 (lowballing KBB and craigslist)
Liquid Accounts: $15,000
Tax Advantaged Savings: $35,000
Non-TA Savings: $3,000
Other: $8,000
Liabilities
Mortgage: $98,000
Net Worth: $102,000
All in all I'm happy with where I'm at but could definitely be doing a lot better. I don't hate my job by any means but I find myself grow very stressed and feel stunted when I don't have daylight hours to think freely and dedicate myself to new skills/hobbies. It's very frustrating when I think about 80% of the time spent in an office is essentially going to waste for me...I'm not growing as a person and redacted. The economics of the problem is a side issue to me but infuriating none the less. I don't envision any modern 40-hour work week that will satisfy my lifestyle desires. I'm not afraid to find out I'm wrong, though!
Near-Term Goals [1-2 years]
-Finish Master's Degree and change industries (I need (want?) to experience something different)
-redacted
-Publish on Thesis Topic
-Monetize Thesis Topic
-Increase Job Income to $100,000/year
-Increase Passive Income to $100/month
-Reduce Expenses
-Quantify "Reduce Expenses" (I expect I will delve heavily into this soon)
-Obtain sub 10% body fat and figure out constructive solutions to current health problems (knee arthritis, collapsing lumbar discs)
Long-Term Goals [by age 35]
-Have $200k in tax-advantaged accounts
-Produce $1,500/month passive income
-Spend less than $1,500/month
-Obtain ability to live near an ocean for at least 3 months per year
-Completely free myself of the 40-hour work week machine
I wanted to write a lot more but I'm fairly exhausted from a long day of work and class. Next time I update I hope to have better collected my recent spending so I can start performing some analysis on it and come up with hard metrics to help keep myself accountable. Feel free to chime in some constructive feedback or just a hello! I'm very excited to start exploring the possibilities of ERE!